Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Josham. For this week's select, I've chosen
Speaker 1: our twenty twelve episode on dog shows. You know, I've
Speaker 1: always wondered what the deal is with dog shows? How
Speaker 1: do you compare a poodle to a Pekinese to a
Speaker 1: Parfa Geffen? I made that last one up regardless, it
Speaker 1: turns out there's a whole fascinating world going on beneath
Speaker 1: the surface of dog shows. And if you just sit
Speaker 1: back and enjoy this app, you'll learn all about it.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey,
Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with me
Speaker 1: as always as Charles W Chuck Bryant. And that makes
Speaker 1: this stuff you should know.
Speaker 2: The podcast indeed about dogs my favorite topic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's one of them.
Speaker 2: What else I don't know?
Speaker 1: Dogs?
Speaker 2: I'm one of those people that like dogs.
Speaker 1: More than many humans.
Speaker 2: Sure, so, as you know, and so you know, although
Speaker 2: dog shows I'm not real big on.
Speaker 1: I love watching dog shows, yeah, I just I've never
Speaker 1: gotten into them. I know there's criticism, there's controversy, but.
Speaker 2: I don't care about that. I just I'm kind of
Speaker 2: bored watching them.
Speaker 1: I never get bored. It's almost like watching a fractal
Speaker 1: screensaver or something. It sucks me into that level of
Speaker 1: like just zoned altitude?
Speaker 2: Is it point? Is it appointment television for you? Like?
Speaker 2: Do you make a point every February something?
Speaker 1: I think? I think last year it was Valentine's Day?
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, it's early February.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Last year when a little Pekinese one in Malachy,
Speaker 1: I think I remember seeing that dog. Look at that dog.
Speaker 1: It's faces mushed, but beyond cute. Look at that hair.
Speaker 1: So apparently, if you want to blow up the Twitter
Speaker 1: verse with angry tweets, you can talk politics, you can
Speaker 1: talk religion, or you can hold the Westminster Dog Show
Speaker 1: and selective best in show. People get pretty upset. Man,
Speaker 1: people went crazy last year.
Speaker 2: So like, what like you commenting or just in the
Speaker 2: Twitter universe?
Speaker 1: People on Twitter? Okay, yeah, no, I'm just a fan.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't don't tweeted during the show. No, no,
Speaker 1: no no. I live tweet very infrequently. It's it's tough
Speaker 1: on the thumbs, sure, but so Malichi, this little cute
Speaker 1: four year old Pekinese won Best in Show and people
Speaker 1: were really mad. They called it a mop cousin it
Speaker 1: Heraldo Rivera's mustache a wookie snooky for some reason, maybe
Speaker 1: just because it rhymes with wookie, and that's what they
Speaker 1: were going for. And they had just been watching Jersey Shore.
Speaker 1: Who knows that's silly, but Malichy is no slouch. It
Speaker 1: had won one hundred and fourteen Best in Show awards. Wow,
Speaker 1: only four years old, so this thing's been mopping up
Speaker 1: the competition. Yeah. Oh man, it just made myself shiver. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but people were crazy. They One guy said he was
Speaker 1: a fan of the Dalmatian. He said, I'm done with
Speaker 1: these dog shows, and I think that happens every year.
Speaker 2: We can untill the next dog show exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of people who feel very passionately
Speaker 1: about dog shows. There's plenty of people like me who
Speaker 1: love to just zone out and watch them. Sure, and
Speaker 1: then you know there's people who just don't know anything
Speaker 1: about them. And that's what we're here for today, to
Speaker 1: explain everything there is to know about how dog shows work.
Speaker 2: That's right, and this will either be really interesting to
Speaker 2: you or you may just zone out like Josh does
Speaker 2: watching the Westminster Show.
Speaker 1: You know, though, I don't think we've ever released an
Speaker 1: uninteresting episode. Maybe they have uninteresting titles. But you go
Speaker 1: on and you listen to it, it will interest you.
Speaker 1: I defy you right now. Stuff. You should know listeners
Speaker 1: who haven't listened to every single episode, so we'll call
Speaker 1: you the twenty eight percent. Yeah, to go out and
Speaker 1: find an episode that sounds boring in the title that
Speaker 1: you've not heard and listened to it, and I guarantee
Speaker 1: you you will find it interesting. It's the it's just
Speaker 1: that thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one comes to mind. College football rankings interesting to me,
Speaker 2: but boy, our listeners are not into college football.
Speaker 1: But was it for the most part boring? Was it
Speaker 1: really not interesting? There's nothing interesting in there.
Speaker 2: I think if you're not into sports at all, then
Speaker 2: it was probably really boring.
Speaker 1: Gotcha? But all right, well we'll avoid that one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: where the guaranteed is void.
Speaker 2: But hey, if you're into sports, you'll love it.
Speaker 1: No. I think on the other end, if you were
Speaker 1: into sports, it was like, well, you guys mess this
Speaker 1: up or you forgot this.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow. Oh and hey, by the way, congratulations we are
Speaker 1: now an award winning podcast. We got a stitchy is
Speaker 1: that what they're called.
Speaker 2: That's what I made up.
Speaker 1: Mark Marin had to call our names. He hosted these
Speaker 1: Stitchy Awards last night. Oh really Yeah, he won one
Speaker 1: himself for Best Episode.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we nominated for that too, for we were one
Speaker 2: that I didn't think.
Speaker 1: Was like an accidental intervention.
Speaker 2: I mean that was okay, but I would have picked
Speaker 2: a different best Episode.
Speaker 1: I think it was the sacrament bit that really led
Speaker 1: us into that. Yeah, sure on the toast. Yeah okay,
Speaker 1: So anyway, dog.
Speaker 2: Shows, Yeah, conformation shows, not firmation confo r are what
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about for most of the show,
Speaker 2: and that is pure bread dogs competing against other purebread dogs,
Speaker 2: almost exclusively based on physical attributes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the Westminster Dog show that you see every
Speaker 1: year at Madison Square Garden. Yes, it's just yeah, what
Speaker 1: the dog looks like and basically its appearance, its body structure,
Speaker 1: and then to a lesser extent.
Speaker 2: It's dude.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's attitude. It's a character.
Speaker 2: Because that also what they're trying to do here. If
Speaker 2: you've ever watched a part of this and I love
Speaker 2: that this Uh who wrote this one? Jane McGrath, oh
Speaker 2: old Jane, I remember her. She wrote that, have you
Speaker 2: ever been channel surfing and come across one. I feel
Speaker 2: like a lot of people that is their entrance into
Speaker 2: the dog show world is they're flipping it around in
Speaker 2: February and they go, oh, yeah, that thing right where
Speaker 2: the Christopher Guest movie, Yeah mocked. I'll watch a few
Speaker 2: minutes of that, and I've done that, and I've always
Speaker 2: been like, I don't get it. How are they judging
Speaker 2: these other dogs against each other?
Speaker 1: It's a very good question, and we're here to tell
Speaker 1: you how. Yeah, because you know, you this little Pekinese
Speaker 1: went up against things like Great Danes and Dalmatians and
Speaker 1: Doberman's and all that, and it still beat them all.
Speaker 1: And the way it did that is how they judge
Speaker 1: any kind of confirmation show. They judge the dog by
Speaker 1: the standards of its breed, and then the dog that
Speaker 1: most closely fits those idealized standards.
Speaker 2: Yeah, whens these very specific register I'm gonna say registered standards.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So let me give you an example. I was
Speaker 1: looking this up. There's a and the AKC has developed
Speaker 1: these standards from information taken from breeders. That's right, And they,
Speaker 1: for example, the Lakeland Terrier, one of the standards is
Speaker 1: its attitude, right, and it has the Lakeland terrier has
Speaker 1: quote a bold, gay and friendly with a confident cock
Speaker 1: of the walk attitude. So this is the kind of
Speaker 1: thing that the AKC sits around us. Yeah, basically.
Speaker 2: I love that. In England they have different standards as
Speaker 2: the American Kennel Club and they have a different show
Speaker 2: called cruft C C R U F T S and
Speaker 2: theirs is a little bit different, but we'll get to
Speaker 2: that later.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit. For
Speaker 1: the most part, we're focused on Westminster and the AKC.
Speaker 1: So in addition to attitude, yeah, character traits, there's all
Speaker 1: those physical traits that the AKC has made tin on
Speaker 1: each breed. So for example, balance and not how well
Speaker 1: the dog stands up, although the gate is important. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you talk like falls over, that's probably a bad sign.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's yeah, it's not gonna win this year.
Speaker 1: Balance is what we would call symmetry for humans. It's
Speaker 1: you know, the overall proportions of its shape and size.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like that Scottish terrier is really pretty except boy,
Speaker 2: look at those ears.
Speaker 1: At the size of its butt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're out, sorry, Scottie weight size, eyes and again
Speaker 2: eyes is size and shape and color. Yep, if you
Speaker 2: got that one wonky eye, forget about.
Speaker 1: It unless you're an Australian shepherd.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are they supposed to have one.
Speaker 1: I think they're supposed to have a blue and a
Speaker 1: brown and blue and a brown. Everyone I've seen has.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but what does the AKC say.
Speaker 1: I don't know. They don't care what sloves like you
Speaker 1: and I think the head shape.
Speaker 2: Of course, ears, muzzle, whiskers.
Speaker 1: Thickness of whiskers is oh really yeah, I would think
Speaker 1: they'd be an indicator of poor health.
Speaker 2: What they had bad whiskers, thin whiskers.
Speaker 1: Riddle whiskers. I think you you want nice stout whiskers
Speaker 1: like uh, the centimeter thick each. Okay, that's probably the
Speaker 1: standard for any breed. This is the JKAC.
Speaker 2: Yeah, teeth. You always see them checking out the teeth.
Speaker 2: You don't want any kind of weird scissor bite or
Speaker 2: I guess certain breeds have the underbyite.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of them do. The breaker, ye old Cardie. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Our own Jerry's dog, Charlie, I recently learned, has a
Speaker 2: bit of a little underbite and sometimes the lip will
Speaker 2: get hung and the little bottom teeth are just kind
Speaker 2: of jutted out there.
Speaker 1: It's very cute.
Speaker 2: It's very cute. You want to go over and like
Speaker 2: adjust the lip, so here you go.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Most I like dogs that have like teeth sticking
Speaker 1: like cheeseus. Yeah, boxers too, right, Boxers, Pugs, Pekinese.
Speaker 2: Oh did that one?
Speaker 1: Yeah, they all have that. It's it's like brechial cardie.
Speaker 1: It's like anything with a smushed face usually has an
Speaker 1: underbite as well.
Speaker 2: Okay, teeth, all right, we just said teeth, tail, I
Speaker 2: mean shoulders.
Speaker 1: And these these dudes are feeling.
Speaker 2: These judges are feeling these dogs as well, like muscle
Speaker 2: and bone, like they're trying to get under the fur. Yeah,
Speaker 2: to judge these things.
Speaker 1: So one of the big things your dog has to
Speaker 1: learn very early on is to let strangers feel them up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in all sorts of uncomfortable places.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't want your dog snapping at this guy
Speaker 2: when he fondles your dog.
Speaker 1: And if your dog snaps at the judge and then
Speaker 1: falls over, just go home.
Speaker 2: It's all over. What they say invest In show. When
Speaker 2: the dog broke his gate, the one guy, so he
Speaker 2: might as well just take in a dump right there.
Speaker 1: On the floor. Yeah, Michael McKean said that he's awesome.
Speaker 1: And then of course there's coat length and texture and color,
Speaker 1: and very much like thoroughbred horses, there's accepted colors for
Speaker 1: each breed. Yeah. You got a dog that's blue and
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be a golden retriever, you got problems.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you got a blue Retriever, you have many problems.
Speaker 1: Although you could probably make some money taking it around
Speaker 1: the country taking an old timey circus.
Speaker 2: Where you can't make money is by winning the Westminster
Speaker 2: Dog Show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2: You would think that these these things offer like big
Speaker 2: cash prizes, but they don't. It is really about prestige
Speaker 2: and being one of those dog show people, like you know,
Speaker 2: wearing that ribbon and getting that trophy.
Speaker 1: Sure, wearing sensible shoes and you know, learning to walk
Speaker 1: very fast.
Speaker 2: That's rightly because your gate matters is a human right,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: So you put all this together right, and these judges
Speaker 1: know the standards for the breeds, and when they're looking
Speaker 1: at this these dogs, they're saying they're matching it up
Speaker 1: to their mental catalog they have. And then the ones
Speaker 1: that most closely matched the idealized version of the breed,
Speaker 1: like we said, wins boom, and that's how you get
Speaker 1: the little you know, loss of apso or the Pekinese
Speaker 1: that can beat out like a Great Dane or a
Speaker 1: German Shepherd or something like that. That's how they compare them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's only been going on since I say,
Speaker 2: only since nineteen oh seven. Previous to that, and this
Speaker 2: has been going on at Madison Square Garden and in
Speaker 2: New York City since eighteen seventy seven.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they did all the time, big time.
Speaker 2: They didn't have a best in Show at all until
Speaker 2: nineteen oh seven because they said, you know, how do
Speaker 2: we codify this right? And they did.
Speaker 1: They figured it out.
Speaker 2: And it's really Jane says, it sounds confusing, but once
Speaker 2: I spell it out, it's simple. But it's still a
Speaker 2: little confusing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it took me a couple of times to figure
Speaker 1: this out. There's just a lot of steps. She does
Speaker 1: a great job of explaining, and it's just there's a
Speaker 1: lot to it. So you want to explain this of
Speaker 1: the Westminster Dog Show, we should say is the pinnacle,
Speaker 1: the peak in the United States for any dog. But
Speaker 1: there's a long road ahead of it. Like we said,
Speaker 1: Alaki the winner of twenty twelve show had one hundred
Speaker 1: and fourteen best in shows under its belt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Jane called it the super Bowl. I would
Speaker 2: say it's more like an All Star Game if the
Speaker 2: All Star Game counted for something very picky, you know,
Speaker 2: because it's all these all stars from the different breeds
Speaker 2: from all these shows, right making this final.
Speaker 1: It's like the Little League World Series for dog.
Speaker 2: Great, It's like the Chess. It's like Bobby what's his
Speaker 2: face Fisher? Fisher almost said, Bobby Riggs. Man, you guys
Speaker 2: like tennis.
Speaker 1: Story who Bobby Riggs? Bobby Fisher?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, sad.
Speaker 1: Did you ever see Searching for Bobby Fisher? It did.
Speaker 1: It was great movie. Here's Back. And then you know,
Speaker 1: of course that song One Night in Bangkok. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: from a Broadway show and I can't remember what the
Speaker 1: Broadway show is, but it was based on Bobby Fisher
Speaker 1: in his life and how he moved to asing just
Speaker 1: evolved into madness. That song is about Bobby.
Speaker 2: Fisher, and that was from a Broadway show as far
Speaker 2: as I know. Yes, And then the pop version was
Speaker 2: just re recorded by whoever that was.
Speaker 1: Possibly by the original composers. But for the radio.
Speaker 2: I thought one night in Bangkok was about you would
Speaker 2: think never mind, I was gonna bring up all you
Speaker 2: had to do was just in there. Yeah, it was
Speaker 2: a Gary glitter, That's what I was thinking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think so. I think he got in
Speaker 1: trouble in Bangkok, if you know what I mean. He did,
Speaker 1: and he recently got in trouble with the whole Jimmy Seville.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he was part of that too, apparently, So
Speaker 1: gross man, what a sidetrack that was? So okay? To
Speaker 1: be a champion, right, this is what a dog gaime's
Speaker 1: for is to be a champion. That's right, Because if
Speaker 1: you're a champion, you get to add as a prefix
Speaker 1: to your name.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I would be then Chuck if I were
Speaker 2: a champion.
Speaker 1: Dog, Yeah, you'd be Chi Chuck Cha Chuck.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's walk everyone through this, right, yeah,
Speaker 2: all right. To be a champion, you got to get
Speaker 2: compile a certain number of points and you earn these
Speaker 2: points at different dog show competitions around the country that
Speaker 2: are not the Westminster Show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and from different judges.
Speaker 2: Right, you got to get at least fifteen points from
Speaker 2: three different judges or at least two major wins from
Speaker 2: separate judges, and a major win is one where you
Speaker 2: can earn three, four or five points, and that's when
Speaker 2: you can get the.
Speaker 1: Right as a.
Speaker 2: Champion just for that little show though, right, or no,
Speaker 2: for the compilation of those shows.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, right, So.
Speaker 1: When you get this, when you get to become a champion,
Speaker 1: and when you have I think it's fifteen points and
Speaker 1: two major wins from separate judges. Yes, you're right, you
Speaker 1: get to this point. Also, like you said, it's not Westminster,
Speaker 1: it's these little specialty shows. Sure, and I don't mean
Speaker 1: little to diminished, And I'm just saying compared to Westminster,
Speaker 1: they're much smaller. It's not on ESPN and there's specialty shows. Well,
Speaker 1: it's on the O Show. I'll bet these specialty shows
Speaker 1: are based on specific breeds, so you'll go to like
Speaker 1: the Chuaua Show or the Lakeland Terrier show. Right, and
Speaker 1: the dogs are separated between male and female. And we
Speaker 1: can say the B word in this one because it's
Speaker 1: what it's called.
Speaker 2: That's my new band name, by the way, What Winter's bitch?
Speaker 1: Okay, And the males and the females are then separated
Speaker 1: into six different classes. Yes, you've got the puppy class,
Speaker 1: the twelve to eighteen month old class novice. So those
Speaker 1: are dogs that are six months or older that haven't
Speaker 1: won any points yet, haven't won any first place prizes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they can be a little older, but they're
Speaker 2: still rookies as far as the competition stage goes.
Speaker 1: Right, and six months is the minimum age to compete
Speaker 1: in an AKC show. Yeah, below that, you're just there's
Speaker 1: no way. Yeah, they're too dumb, too unpredictable. Bread by
Speaker 1: exhibitor is a class of dogs where the person showing
Speaker 1: the dog is also the breeder. Yeah, and the breeder,
Speaker 1: by the way, is the owner of the dog's mother.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: There's American bread, which is any dog born in the US, sure, USA,
Speaker 1: And then there's open. The open class is open to
Speaker 1: any dog, and this is the only class that any
Speaker 1: dog that's already become a champion can compete in. In
Speaker 1: the specialty show, oh they are Yeah, that's the only
Speaker 1: class open to the Oh okay, because they could just
Speaker 1: mop up all the other classes, they have to face
Speaker 1: any takers, Okay, in the open class.
Speaker 2: That's a good way to put it. Yeah, So they
Speaker 2: divide it up by male and female. The males go first,
Speaker 2: and they, you know, inspect all the males as they
Speaker 2: do at any of the shows.
Speaker 1: You know what that means, fondling. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You give them the award ribbons first through fourth place,
Speaker 2: and you don't get any points at this point, though,
Speaker 2: the first place winners of the male class have to
Speaker 2: compete for the Winner's dog. The female's class compete for
Speaker 2: winner's bitch. You want to say it, I've said it
Speaker 2: twice now.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say it. I find it difficult
Speaker 1: to say. Oh really, it's just the connotations are sure.
Speaker 2: You know I've never used that word in like anger
Speaker 2: about someone.
Speaker 1: That's it's a it's a very rough it's a terrible word. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I don't. I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't think that makes me a good person or anything.
Speaker 2: But there's just a couple of things that like, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't call my worst enemy, and that's one of them.
Speaker 1: Gotcha, I don't have any enemies.
Speaker 2: So what am I talking about?
Speaker 1: So you've got the winner's dog and the Winner's bitch. Yep,
Speaker 1: and uh, this is this is the point where they
Speaker 1: start winning awards, winning points points. I mean I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: So this is all these different dogs have been weeded
Speaker 1: out by the different classes, and then there there you've
Speaker 1: got the out of all these six classes of the male,
Speaker 1: male version and the female version, you have winners, right.
Speaker 1: And then there's so this is where the points start
Speaker 1: being awarded. Then there's chances for more points in the
Speaker 1: same show. Any champion can come along and take the
Speaker 1: winners on for best in Show or best in breed.
Speaker 2: Yes, and you can, and you compile extra points depending
Speaker 2: on how many dogs they beat out. So if you
Speaker 2: beat out a bunch of more dogs, you can turn
Speaker 2: up to five points.
Speaker 1: Right, five to the most. And remember a major win
Speaker 1: is three, four or five points in a win. Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: So you can win some by being the winner's dog
Speaker 1: or the winner's bitch. You can the champions can take
Speaker 1: those guys on in the best of breed yep. And
Speaker 1: then between those two the winners bitch and the winner
Speaker 1: winn's dog, there's another walk off I guess, yeah, and
Speaker 1: they can win points whoever be two? And then there's
Speaker 1: the best of opposite sex.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the best of winners, right, and then
Speaker 2: the best of opposite sex, which it says the best
Speaker 2: dog of the opposite sex of the best of breed.
Speaker 1: Yes, so whichever dog, whether it's the Winter's dog, the
Speaker 1: winner's bitch, or any champion that took him on and won. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the best of breed. Say that's a male that wins, right,
Speaker 1: and there's another category for the winners that's females or
Speaker 1: vice versa, the opposite best of opposite. Basically, it's like,
Speaker 1: we got all these points sitting around, let's let's get
Speaker 1: rid of some good point. Or or it's like, did
Speaker 1: you ever go to camp and like run a race
Speaker 1: but your rant terribly, but you still got a ribbon
Speaker 1: that just said participant. Oh yeah, maybe it's like that.
Speaker 2: That's like every race I ever ran that same here.
Speaker 1: Basically I had a trophy once that just it was
Speaker 1: a sad face really Yeah, there's a baseball bag just
Speaker 1: kind of sitting at the foot of the kid with
Speaker 1: his head hung down frowning.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I played church sports, so we didn't. They didn't
Speaker 2: do a lot of trophies, even in church leagues. Like
Speaker 2: the ultimate victor of the churchley got a trophy, but
Speaker 2: they weren't big on like ribbons and trophies.
Speaker 1: The ultimate victor of the Church League, I would imagine
Speaker 1: his salvation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we all won. Okay, so then you've got your
Speaker 2: best of Breed winner and then that dog can then
Speaker 2: advance to a group show where all these best of
Speaker 2: Breed winners compete aka or AKC Westminster.
Speaker 1: Right, So to make that point, when you are at
Speaker 1: a specialty show and you're aiming for Westminster, which I imagine
Speaker 1: every dog there is. Oh sure, you want to win
Speaker 1: best of Breed. You can win points and become a
Speaker 1: champion through winning other stuff like best of Opposite Sex,
Speaker 1: best of winners, winterers, dog winners, bitch right, Yes, but
Speaker 1: to move on to the next level, you have to
Speaker 1: win best of Breed of that show, and you have
Speaker 1: to win a bunch. I imagine that's right.
Speaker 2: And at this point, half of our listeners are delighted
Speaker 2: in half their eyes are rolling back into their head.
Speaker 1: Man, we just explain the heck out of that. I agree.
Speaker 1: So we're at.
Speaker 2: Best in Show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the movie. That's such a good movie. If you've
Speaker 1: not seen Best in Show, the Christopher Guest film, yeah,
Speaker 1: just go out and see it right now. Yeah, just stop.
Speaker 1: I think it's streaming right now.
Speaker 2: I'm sure it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2: It's hard to pick out a favorite part of that movie,
Speaker 2: but the scene that always pops up to me is
Speaker 2: when Parker Posey is trying to get a replacement was it.
Speaker 1: A b.
Speaker 2: Well, there's a little be stuffed animal. She can't find it,
Speaker 2: and the guy's trying to help her. He's like, well,
Speaker 2: this is yellow and black and it was like a
Speaker 2: parrot or something. I can't remember at all, But she's
Speaker 2: just like my hero.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's great, she's very good. All right.
Speaker 2: So a little bit on the AKC. There are several
Speaker 2: hundred dog breeds in the world, but the AKC only
Speaker 2: recognizes a little over one fifty, that's it. And they
Speaker 2: separate those into groups.
Speaker 1: And yeah, the AKC loves categorizing, breaking putting dogs into
Speaker 1: categories and breaking them down and then putting them in
Speaker 1: new categories. Yeah, and that's what they do here.
Speaker 2: And the poor dogs just like, what can I have
Speaker 2: a treat?
Speaker 1: Can I get a bacon strip?
Speaker 2: Or what squirrel? Okay, Sporting dogs is one. Obviously, these
Speaker 2: are dogs that are good for hunting, pointers, retrievers, setters,
Speaker 2: and spaniels.
Speaker 1: Yeah, those are good dogs, great.
Speaker 2: Dogs, hounds, beagles, bloodhounds, Docksn's I like.
Speaker 1: Hounds except for the baying, the howling.
Speaker 2: Or the howl.
Speaker 3: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Yeah a beagle of you never heard like a beagle?
Speaker 2: No, never had a beagle or that much.
Speaker 1: They are loud and insistent, really insistent. Super cute puppies though,
Speaker 1: possibly the cutest puppies of any breed I think. Yeah,
Speaker 1: those and uh, oh man, what's the one I'm thinking of?
Speaker 1: The little puff balls. It's a it's an Asian dog.
Speaker 2: The little puff balls Maltese like is it a little dog?
Speaker 1: Yeah in the end, yeah, but like the puppies are
Speaker 1: little puff balls and they stay, they stay huffballs like
Speaker 1: oh Pomeranian. Yes, yeah, those are pretty cute puppy. Yeah.
Speaker 2: They don't even look real. It looks like the squeeze them.
Speaker 2: It should make a little noise.
Speaker 1: Right they do, they do, Yeah, but you don't want
Speaker 1: to do that. Okay.
Speaker 2: Working dogs, we're talking Great Danes, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard's dogs
Speaker 2: who are hardy and they even you know, are used
Speaker 2: as working dogs like search and rescue stuff.
Speaker 1: Like that, right, and then there's terriers that chase rats.
Speaker 1: Did they maybe even fight cobra or two. Those are
Speaker 1: little Schnauzers Scottish Terriers also known as Scotti's Yeah bull terriers,
Speaker 1: which you would recognize the Spuds Mackenzie. Yeah, man, those
Speaker 1: things are weird looking.
Speaker 2: My buddy Clay has got a giant Schnauzer.
Speaker 1: They're big.
Speaker 2: Well, this thing is like six months old and he's
Speaker 2: already as big as my biggest dog.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's like just wait all you see.
Speaker 2: His name is Bro. He's like, what do you see? Bro?
Speaker 2: At the end of this he's going to be enormous.
Speaker 1: How big is he expected to get? Wait?
Speaker 2: Wise, I don't know, but really big. He's awesome, very
Speaker 2: very fun dog. Just like for a dog to be
Speaker 2: that young and that big, they don't have control of
Speaker 2: their limbs yet. So Bro would just go running downstairs
Speaker 2: and just like face plant and then get up and
Speaker 2: you know with the happiest expression behind his little eyes
Speaker 2: that you can see like that. There.
Speaker 1: What else Toy dogs?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Chihuahua's, poodles, pugs, and how you pronounce it? I
Speaker 2: always said, shits is it cheesuhesu chesu? Non sporting dogs.
Speaker 2: I guess these are the intellects. This is a catch
Speaker 2: all breed. When you don't have unifying characteristics, which is
Speaker 2: kind of sad.
Speaker 1: The one unifying characteristic is these dogs don't play.
Speaker 2: They don't play bulldogs, Dalmatians, and the American Eskimo dog,
Speaker 2: which I've never heard of.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's basically like, we don't know what to do
Speaker 1: with you, guys, so we're going to put you in
Speaker 1: the non sporting dog and.
Speaker 2: Then two more herding dogs like Australian shepherds and miscellaneous.
Speaker 1: So remember we said that the AKC likes to classify
Speaker 1: people dogs. Yeah, and there's more breeds than it recognizes.
Speaker 1: This is a group that they you can't win points,
Speaker 1: you can't win any major awards, I believe. But if
Speaker 1: there's a breed that's starting to get more attention, there's
Speaker 1: more people breeding it. Yeah. It's like a part of
Speaker 1: the process of becoming recognized. You you start out in
Speaker 1: the miscellaneous group.
Speaker 2: So that's pre recognition almost.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Jeez, hey man, these people are keeping track of
Speaker 1: like this dogs, cocksturedness. I mean, they're there. They pay
Speaker 1: attention to.
Speaker 2: Details, all right, So the best of breeds in each
Speaker 2: of the group are gonna compete in the group show,
Speaker 2: and then if you win that group show, then you
Speaker 2: compete in the ultimate I think we skip that part,
Speaker 2: which is the All Breed Show, and that's the All
Speaker 2: Star Game, the.
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, that's Westminster.
Speaker 2: The chess match, the Bobby Riggs versus Billy Jean King.
Speaker 1: That's when a judge goes through each of these groups
Speaker 1: and picks out the best.
Speaker 2: Yep right, seven groups because the eighth can't win, right, And.
Speaker 1: They basically go through and say you're number one, you're
Speaker 1: number two, you're number three, number four, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden that number one is the best in the show.
Speaker 2: And the controversy erupts.
Speaker 1: Twitter goes crazy.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have to pay attention this year.
Speaker 1: It's yeah, it's fun to watch. Yeah, I've never watched
Speaker 1: it where I was like tense, Oh sure, but you
Speaker 1: know I've been like, oh that's great, or oh really,
Speaker 1: that's that's nothing.
Speaker 2: I'm sure you find yourself rooting for certain dogs though, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, there's always a dog. There's always at least
Speaker 1: one if they where you're just like I like that dog.
Speaker 2: Yeah. All right, let's talk about the criticism of dog shows.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because there's definitely plenty. Yeah, there it's out there.
Speaker 2: One of the problems that certain groups have is that
Speaker 2: when you're talking pure bred dogs, you're talking about breeding.
Speaker 2: And myself and many others are against dog breeding because
Speaker 2: there's plenty of dogs out there for the taking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but they they're mutts.
Speaker 2: So breeders basically breed these dogs to acquire these or
Speaker 2: to at least hold onto these attributes. Yeah, and that
Speaker 2: means inbreeding sometimes, and that means shorter life spans and
Speaker 2: disease and defects, birth defects.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like tell Masons tend to suffer from blindness and
Speaker 1: German shepherd suffer from hip dysplasia. Yeah, and these these
Speaker 1: traits have become associated with the breed, these standards of
Speaker 1: the breed that the AKC maintains. Yeah, and it's kind
Speaker 1: of like, well, yeah, but if you want to have
Speaker 1: a dog that meets all these other criteria, it's also
Speaker 1: going to get dysplasia when it's six. Yeah. It's just
Speaker 1: part of inbreeding. It's narrowing of the gene pool.
Speaker 2: And I've definitely noticed, and this isn't one hundred percent,
Speaker 2: of course, but all the dogs and people I've known
Speaker 2: who had dogs throughout the years, I've noticed more purebred
Speaker 2: dogs dying younger. Yeah than the mutts.
Speaker 1: Well, supposedly they have a weaker immune system. Like remember
Speaker 1: I don't remember what episode it was, but we were
Speaker 1: talking about that experiment that people scent people use sense
Speaker 1: to detect an immune system different from yours, because when
Speaker 1: you put together your immune system and somebody else's immune
Speaker 1: system to reproduction, the kids should have a doubly great
Speaker 1: immune system.
Speaker 2: Man, that was a long one fame ago.
Speaker 1: Remember that, Yeah, it was I don't remember what episode
Speaker 1: it was, the smell maybe maybe so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So remember a few minutes ago we were talking
Speaker 2: about the miscellaneous category can eventually earn you status as
Speaker 2: an officially recognized breed. The American Border Collie Association, the
Speaker 2: ABCA really didn't want their dog to become recognized by
Speaker 2: the AKAC because they thought that meant well, once it's
Speaker 2: an official breed, then that means breeding will become more
Speaker 2: intense and these dogs, you know, will suffer from all
Speaker 2: these things that we just told you about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they specifically petition with the AKCS and don't recognize,
Speaker 1: don't recognize us in the AKC said we're going to recognize.
Speaker 2: I don't think it was maliciously, but They're like, this
Speaker 2: is what we do, and we're going to recognize this
Speaker 2: dog as a breed.
Speaker 1: No, they were like, had you not asked, we wouldn't know,
Speaker 1: but you did so sorry. Uh.
Speaker 2: And Peta is also filed an official objection against tail docking,
Speaker 2: which is when they amputate you know, the tails.
Speaker 1: So you had the little nub, Yeah, it's not as
Speaker 1: tails ears.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, cropping shit.
Speaker 1: Yeah. There's a lot of breeds that have these unnatural
Speaker 1: attributes that you have to perform surgery on to get. Yeah,
Speaker 1: which is counterintuitive because you're talking about the idealized version
Speaker 1: of a breed. Yeah, why would you have to take
Speaker 1: some sort of technological step to yeah, to reach that
Speaker 1: ideal version. Like if it doesn't happen naturally, it seems
Speaker 1: really awful.
Speaker 2: Yeah it does to me too, But I mean I
Speaker 2: don't even declaw my cats.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's the way to go, That's the way
Speaker 1: I But I've.
Speaker 2: Got crap all over my house.
Speaker 1: It's cat scratched. But yeah. But the same time, you
Speaker 1: know Holly Fry of pop Stuff, uh uh, she was
Speaker 1: talking about how she lets her cats play on their iPad.
Speaker 1: Oh really, And I was like, you must have a
Speaker 1: serious scratch card because there's like cat playing apps on iPad.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, And she's like, well, I don't think we
Speaker 1: have a scratch card.
Speaker 2: Well, when cats play around like that though usually don't
Speaker 2: have the claws out. They're usually just pawing around, you
Speaker 2: would hope. But yeah, I wouldn't put one on my iPad.
Speaker 2: No way. I put on the little sticky things they have,
Speaker 2: like clear tapets that you put on your couch arm. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and those are unsightly in collected hair and dust and
Speaker 2: just one of the things. If you're an animal owner
Speaker 2: with five animals in your house, it's hard to not
Speaker 2: live with some hair.
Speaker 1: Do you have a rumba? Nah? You should probably get
Speaker 1: a rumba. It might change your life. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm in love with my vacuum cleaner, so I feel
Speaker 2: like that would be cheating on LuxI.
Speaker 1: Nice. Yeah, Okay, that's it. There's so what else was there? Oh?
Speaker 1: Joanan Goldberg had some words about breeding, especially with the AKC.
Speaker 1: He compares it to eugenics. Yeah, in fact, he thought
Speaker 1: it spurred the eugenics movement. Yeah, and we're like, oh wow,
Speaker 1: we have this really great dog and we should do
Speaker 1: this with humans. I'm tired of people with epilepsy. Let's
Speaker 1: just get rid of them. And of course you can
Speaker 1: go back and read or listen to is it legal
Speaker 1: to sterilize addicts? Yeah, that was episode basically was all
Speaker 1: about eugenics.
Speaker 2: That's true, he also contends, and not really content. It's
Speaker 2: pretty obvious that it's a beauty pageant. They're focusing on
Speaker 2: these physical attributes and only the aesthetic matters in his opinion,
Speaker 2: and that's not something he says. You know what, if
Speaker 2: you want to judge a hunting dog, take it out hunting, right,
Speaker 2: and see how it does there. Because these jogs, these jogs,
Speaker 2: these dogs have jobs. You know, most dogs do have
Speaker 2: a job of some sort, right, and let's see how
Speaker 2: they do in their job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like that's how you would truly appreciate a breed,
Speaker 1: not just its looks. And you mentioned UK's crufts. Yea,
Speaker 1: the England England's Kennel Club runs crufts and they do
Speaker 1: have lots of agility and stuff like that. Apparently they're
Speaker 1: criticized for going too far the other way, right that
Speaker 1: they need to bring back more confirmation conformation, right, But yeah,
Speaker 1: if you if you go to England and you're into dogs,
Speaker 1: you're going to be very surprised because they're they're big
Speaker 1: show doesn't look anything like ours.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those are the well we'll get in to agility trials.
Speaker 2: But is that what they have in there where you're
Speaker 2: running between the you're bobbing and weaving and going through
Speaker 2: the tunnels and.
Speaker 1: Yeah, obedience stuff too. Yeah, and the AKC has these things,
Speaker 1: it's just not part of the big one, the Westminster show.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: But Chuck, you would also probably appreciate England's Kennel Club
Speaker 1: maybe more than the AKC because they have something called scruffs. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I want to see this televised.
Speaker 1: It's basically the Cruffs for crossbreed dogs, non purebred dogs,
Speaker 1: and it's just adorable that they have this and they
Speaker 1: welcome anything pretty much. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously you have to have your dog trained.
Speaker 2: You can't just walk up up the street. But as
Speaker 2: far as breeds go, you can enter your dog. The
Speaker 2: criteria are pretty wide open, and they just look for
Speaker 2: good temperament, good health, and good character, which I like.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So we talked about agility trials. These are sometimes separate
Speaker 2: competitions all together, right, and then, like you said in
Speaker 2: England incorporated into the Best in Show and that's where
Speaker 2: they're basically doing like a little obstacle course.
Speaker 1: Which is adorable off leash. I mean, did you see
Speaker 1: this picture. That's the cutest picture ever in this article
Speaker 1: how dog shows work. Yeah, it's just a little terrier
Speaker 1: jumping over like a little post and he's got this
Speaker 1: look on his face like I'm gonna do it. He
Speaker 1: is gonna do it. He's got his tail up. Man,
Speaker 1: that's a cute picture.
Speaker 2: And then obedience trials are basically taking commands from the handler,
Speaker 2: like you know, you got to be listening. Some of
Speaker 2: the commands are just vocal. Some of them you can't
Speaker 2: speak at all, and you're just using hand gestures and
Speaker 2: they're just seeing how well trained your dog.
Speaker 1: Is, right, Yeah, that the dog can become the champion,
Speaker 1: which is the national obedience Champion, which has got to
Speaker 1: be kind of a dubious honor among dogs, like you're
Speaker 1: the most obedient dog in all the land. Yeah. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like Kurt Russell when he was like the
Speaker 1: star of Disney movies. It's like, hey, movie star, but
Speaker 1: you're also like this, you know, clean cut team. These
Speaker 1: are great. I remember those but even he distanced himself
Speaker 1: later He's like, no, I'm badter than this, I'm snake
Speaker 1: Pliskin exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I forgot about those early movies. Those were awesome.
Speaker 2: I was a big fan of those.
Speaker 1: What was it The Kid with two White Shoes or
Speaker 1: something like that. They were really like vanilla. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: were pretty vanilla.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So over the years, we have a few little stats.
Speaker 2: The breed that has won the most the fox terrier
Speaker 2: thirteen times.
Speaker 1: Not bad. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The dog that has won the most was Champion Warren Remedy.
Speaker 2: It was a fox terrier who won three times in
Speaker 2: a row in the early nineteen hundreds, So that's pretty good.
Speaker 1: Yeah. My favorite is the oldest dog to win, the
Speaker 1: eight year old Papion. Oh yeah, who won in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety nine. Champion low Ticky Supernatural.
Speaker 2: And the youngest ever was a rough Collie named Longed
Speaker 2: Loyalty of bell Haven and one on its ninth nine
Speaker 2: month birthday and nine months old. It's pretty young.
Speaker 1: Makes Bro look like an idiot.
Speaker 2: Bro is an idiot. He's lovable though.
Speaker 1: I guess that's about it, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna watch this year. I'm gonna it's appointment
Speaker 2: TV for for me.
Speaker 1: Now good, that is good. I think you'll like it.
Speaker 1: And then you go on to Twitter and register your
Speaker 1: anger or your happiness at the winter.
Speaker 2: I will do so maybe I'll live tweet.
Speaker 1: Your thumbs are gonna hurt.
Speaker 2: I gotta get her Twitter log in. I don't even
Speaker 2: know it. Well, you're the Twitter master. I just leave
Speaker 2: that to you.
Speaker 1: I will, I will, I'll email it team.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: And by the way, our Twitter handle is sysk podcast.
Speaker 1: Yeah I need that part. Okay. So, Chuck, if anybody
Speaker 1: wants to learn more about best in Show and dog
Speaker 1: shows and to see this adorable picture of this terrier
Speaker 1: jumping in midair, man, thank you picture. You can type
Speaker 1: in dog shows in the search bar at houstuffworks dot com.
Speaker 1: And since I said search bar in there, I imagine
Speaker 1: it's time for listener mail. But first, Chuck, I feel
Speaker 1: like we should wish everybody a happy new year. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I hope you had a great twenty twelve.
Speaker 1: And if it wasn't great, here's the better days. I had,
Speaker 1: very nice, very nice, Chuck, and I want to wish
Speaker 1: a very very happy birthday to my sweet and wonderful wife.
Speaker 1: You me. Happy birthday, baby, Happy birthday. It's very sweet, okay,
Speaker 1: listener mail, huh yes, okay.
Speaker 2: All right, Josh, I'm gonna call this crying during music
Speaker 2: And this is from Angela in Columbus, Ohio. I should
Speaker 2: take up buck, guys. It's my family, My family.
Speaker 1: Take go blue. Who's blue Michigan? Oh? Tough words, all right, guys.
Speaker 2: Listening Chuck talk about his experience at Carnegie Hall made
Speaker 2: me want to share this story. I heard a story
Speaker 2: one day about a new musical based on a book, Wicked.
Speaker 2: And I know we all know this musical now about
Speaker 2: the Wizard of Oz.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had a soundtrack for about a year before
Speaker 2: I saw it, and I found out there was a
Speaker 2: Broadway Across America tour coming to Columbus, Ohio. My husband
Speaker 2: and I bought tickets, went with a group of friends.
Speaker 2: I've been listening to the soundtrack for about a year.
Speaker 2: As I said, so, I was really excited. So I'm
Speaker 2: watching the show, really enjoying it, getting swept up in
Speaker 2: the stage production and the acting. The music was better
Speaker 2: than I even thought it could be. And when they
Speaker 2: hit the main song Defying Gravity sung by Edina Menzel
Speaker 2: on the soundtrack, that's when it happened. I had a
Speaker 2: chuck moment and broke down, sobbing like a little baby.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I call that a chuck mummut.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sensitive, but that's pretty hilarious, all right,
Speaker 2: I'm weepy. The song itself is incredibly moving overall. There's
Speaker 2: a point in the middle where there's a break from
Speaker 2: the action, and before she hits the third verse, she
Speaker 2: says a few lines, turns the last line into this
Speaker 2: incredibly cathartic note, and takes off in flight. Sitting here,
Speaker 2: remember it, I'm actually choking up, and that's where I
Speaker 2: could no longer control myself all through the third verse,
Speaker 2: sobbing uncontrollably loud, gasping sobs. Both my husband and my
Speaker 2: brother in law offered me comfort, but I could not
Speaker 2: control myself. I cried through the end of the song
Speaker 2: and the house lights were coming up for an intermission.
Speaker 2: My husband gave me a hug, not really knowing why
Speaker 2: I was so moved, and I still can't say why.
Speaker 2: I was a mess and incredibly embarrassed, but it was
Speaker 2: a beautiful moment for this touching character who speaks to
Speaker 2: me ps and this from Angela and Columbus ps.
Speaker 1: I feel a sense of strength and catharsis.
Speaker 2: Also currently while listening to Shake It Out by Florence
Speaker 2: in the Machine.
Speaker 1: Huh, well that was a specific email. Yeah, thanks for
Speaker 1: sharing your story. Was that person's name, Angela? Thanks a lot, Angela.
Speaker 1: We appreciate that. That's pretty cool. So what do you
Speaker 1: want to say?
Speaker 2: I don't know dog show stories.
Speaker 1: What do you think now? Yeah? Sure, dog show stories
Speaker 1: it is. If you want to get in touch with
Speaker 1: us about your dog show story, you can tweet to us.
Speaker 1: Remember it's s YSK podcast and of course we're on Facebook, Facebook,
Speaker 1: dot com, slash Stuff you Should Know and you can
Speaker 1: send us a good old fashioned email to stuff podcasts
Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com. Stuff you Should Know is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit
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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.